Icebergs Melt, Ocean Levels Increase

Global warming has become a main issue and many are trying to solve its consequences. One problem though, has begun to get out of hand.

The loss of floating icebergs each year accounts to approximately 1.5 million. Remember, these icebergs are enormous. With this data, it is no wonder that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) said that in the last century, the sea level had risen 6-8 inches. The greatest losses were due to Arctic sea ice, ice in the Antarctic Peninsula, and the Amundsen Sea.

People and places are being effected as over one million people have been dispatched from Bangladesh as the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers have flooded. If no action is taken, the people being dispatched will rise to about 13 million people. Other places, like island nations which sit 3-4 meters above sea level, and the higher elevated islands have most of their economic activity and infrastructure located near the coast.

Another extreme case of melting isn’t at the poles; it’s right at the equator in Africa. Changes in temperature have caused the ice-capped mountains to recede causing malaria-carrying mosquitoes to thrive in regions they couldn’t before. The natural wildlife’s endangered animals are even more endangered now with the mountain’s receding icecaps. At the poles, the wildlife there is dying out too, as the loss of icebergs are equivalent to the loss of shelter.

If the population does not do something soon, the consequences will be even worse, and we’ll be lucky if, in the future, we can look at a map and see the same amount of land we see today. Because of global warming, we now have a lot of problems on our hands, and a main one is the iceberg meltdown. The effects will be horrendous if we just stand by and let this happen. If we don’t help, we will have no one but ourselves to blame.